Washington DC native Julius Jetson is pushing boundaries with the recent launch of his Ghetto Ghetto record label. Jetson has in-turn created a much-needed American home-base for G-house. Jetson’s music career continues to evolve. He has rapidly grown from DJ to producer; releasing tracks that blend hip-hop and ghetto house. At his set at Dreamscape, his diverse sound caught my attention. I knew that Jetson and his label would be the perfect catalyst for the G-House community he desires to build. I got the opportunity to sit down with Jetson and talk about the launch of his label, new music and family.
Be sure to check out our exclusive interview below and stay tuned for more releases from Ghetto Ghetto Records and Jetson himself.
Tell me a little bit about the release of your label, what went into the launch of Ghetto Ghetto Records?
Julius: The groundwork of Ghetto Ghetto began when I was talking to my friend Templeton (1/2 of Strange Club), who actually did a remix of my first single, “Richard.” We were in Hartford, Connecticut playing a show with Dr. Fresch, and I had the idea while hanging out with him afterwards in the frat house.
Julius: About a year later, I went ahead and applied for label distribution. I went through the process and when I started receiving approval from major outlets like Beatport, I sought out some of my producer friends that I really liked and told them about it. I wanted to create a family for the G-house community and throw distinctive parties across the country, hitting all the major conferences. I want to give those people who make really dope music a shot, and that’s the main reason I wanted to start this label. To give back and create a community.
What do you plan to accomplish by having your own label?
Julius: I want to establish a home base for G-house. There really isn’t an American home for it, so I wanted to create one alongside my friends where we all can succeed.
Will the label be geared toward a specific type of sound or genres?
Julius: G-house! But I’m definitely going to try and push some hip-hop tracks through the label as well. I actually just did a hip hop track with Theory, an artist from Baltimore. The main focus will always be house music though.
Can we expect all future releases to go out on Ghetto Ghetto Records?
Julius: Will definitely be open to other label placements, but my primary focus will be Ghetto Ghetto. It’s not 2014 anymore, you can’t just drop a free download on Soundcloud and expect a thousand new followers. You have to have a purpose and a plan. Everything that I want to do in the future is with this label. I have an upcoming release with Kids Want Techno and local rapper, Born I Music. We have a full remix package going for it as well. The ultimate goal is to form the home base where a selection of house vocalists and producers can collaborate, not to mention push out unique and engaging remix packages for every release.
With your upcoming release with Kids Want Techno, what was it like producing that track and working with them?
Julius: Adam and Jordan have been homies for a long time, and we’ve always wanted to collaborate but never had the chance to sit down and make it happen until recently. The production is all original from start to finish, but since we had a Yo Gotti vocal over top it was still a bootleg. Listening to it back, I knew we had a really good track and wanted to lock in an original vocal sample. So I spent some time searching on Youtube and came across Born I Music. I contacted him and sent him the track. He loved it and sent vocals back within 48 hours. I was blown away by his work and was very excited to have him be part of the track. The remixes are shaping up nicely, not sharing too much but we have some heavy hitters on the package.
Let’s talk about Dreamscape, have you performed here before?
Julius: No I haven’t, but I first came up to the campgrounds about 4 years ago for BADASS’s sister event Nightmare Festival. I came to see Claude Von Stroke and J.Phlip. I came up as a patron and I think I drove straight home that night.
What’s your favorite part about the festival?
Julius: Definitely the stage I performed on tonight. Playing in a warehouse is really cool and Nu Androids did a great job curating it. The production on it was top quality. I feel blessed to be a part of the lineup with so many great names. The overall friendliness of everyone is definitely up there too. Everyone is just so down to be nice and real with each other.
So you’re based in DC – did you have any friends or family in the crowd during your set?
Julius: Friends! Of course. The Nu Androids family always comes and supports and I’m proud to call many of them best friends. Most of my family however is in the Caribbean. I have roots in Kingston, Jamaica and Port-of-Spain, Trinidad. If I ever perform there, I will most definitely bring them along.
That’s really cool.
Julius: I grew up listening to Reggae and Soca music in my household. Lots of Machel Montano and Destra. My grandfather also has an unreal amount of reggae vinyl from the golden years in Kingston, Jamaica. I went and lived there for a couple months after college and loved hearing his stories about how he got each record. The coolest one he had was an original press of Bob Marley’s Legend.
On a bigger stage would you ask them to come see you play?
Julius: If I ever played Ultra, I would definitely bring my mom.
Would you say Ultra is your “You Made it Stage”? Your ultimate goal?
Julius: My ultimate goal is to host a label party and stage at Portugal’s BPM Festival. That’s when I would sit back and be like wow, this is really something. Ultra would be cool, too.
We’d like to thank Julius and his team for taking the time to sit down with us, we hope to connect further in the future! This week, Jetson is hosting a launch party for his new label. We all at RaverRafting wish him luck on his new label. If you wish to RSVP to this launch party you can do so by clicking here!
Written by: Karina Kolb
Connect with Julius Jetson:
https://www.facebook.com/JuliusJetson
https://twitter.com/JuliusJetson
https://www.instagram.com/juliusjetson/
https://soundcloud.com/juliusjetson
https://open.spotify.com/artist/
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